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Denver Voters Face Xcel Decision but 3% Utility Fee May Remain Either Way
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Colorado Politics, Approved, Local

Denver Voters Face Xcel Decision but 3% Utility Fee May Remain Either Way

By Nico Brambila | Colorado Politics Xcel Energy’s slogan makes this promise: “Our energy. Your power.” Denver voters will have the power in November when they decide whether to approve a new 20-year franchise agreement with the utility. But even if they say no, they will continue paying the 3% franchise fee on their electric and natural gas bills. The reason? A provision on page 22 of Denver’s existing 20-year agreement with Xcel says that, if the franchise is not renewed, the utility must continue paying the city an amount equal to the franchise fee as long as Xcel continues using Denver’s public rights-of-way to provide service. The agreement expires Dec. 31. Colorado law requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to order utilities to recover muni...
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Colorado Rep. Gabe Evans Leads Bipartisan Push to Protect Ratepayers From Data Center Costs
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Politico, Approved, National

Colorado Rep. Gabe Evans Leads Bipartisan Push to Protect Ratepayers From Data Center Costs

By Nico Portuondo and Amelia Davidson | POLITICO The vote gives House Republicans a bipartisan win on an issue that has become increasingly politically fraught ahead of the midterm elections. House lawmakers on Wednesday easily passed the first major legislative action to address the costs of the AI boom, a bill intended to shield Americans from potential energy costs associated with data centers. The Ratepayer Protection Act, which has become the House GOP’s signature legislation to address the costs of the data center build-out ahead of the midterm elections, was passed in a broad bipartisan vote of 417-3. “Large load data centers must cover the full costs of any system updates they require, not families or small businesses. We cannot accelerate this gr...
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Xcel’s large load tariff fight: Who will pay for Colorado’s data centers?
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Xcel’s large load tariff fight: Who will pay for Colorado’s data centers?

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice One of the biggest open questions about who pays for Colorado's data center boom is being decided this fall at the Public Utilities Commission, and the answer testimony that frames the fight is already filed. By Aug. 19, intervenors had filed a stack of answer testimony in Proceeding No. 26AL-0137E, Xcel Energy's proposed Large Load Tariff. The case has drawn a crowd. Google is in it. So is Walmart. So is the City and County of Denver, the City of Boulder, the electric cooperative United Power, the state's own energy office, and the commission's trial staff. The evidentiary hearing is set for 5 days across late October, Oct. 21, 22, 26, 27 and 28. A second public comment hearing is set for Oct. 20. The hearing wraps 6...
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Xcel Electric Bills Rise Again as Colorado Regulators Approve $157 Million Increase
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Xcel Electric Bills Rise Again as Colorado Regulators Approve $157 Million Increase

By Mark Jaffe | The Colorado Sun The state Public Utilities Commission cut Xcel Energy’s original rate hike request but the utility could ask for a rehearing. Xcel Energy received approval from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday for a $157 million electricity rate increase that will raise the average residential bill by about $5 a month. The average residential bill for 601 kilowatt hours will rise to $109.92 a month from $104.91. When Xcel Energy originally filed the rate request in 2025 it said the average monthly bill was about $100. The average bill for small commercial customers will rise a little less than 5% to $164.37 a month for 1,041 kilowatt-hours. The parties to the rate case, including Xcel Energy, the state Office o...
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Colorado Faces Growing Concerns Over Grid Reliability and Energy Costs
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Faces Growing Concerns Over Grid Reliability and Energy Costs

By Mike Krause | Complete Colorado In a recent episode of Independence Institute’s* PowerGab energy podcast, hosts Amy Cooke and Jake Fogleman look at the mounting consequences of Colorado’s forced energy transition to renewables, focusing on recent warning from Xcel Energy before the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) that the state could face a significant power generation shortfall beginning next summer, increasing the risk of rolling blackouts. Cooke and Fogleman contend that regulators have prioritized emissions reductions while giving short shrift to the costs and reliability challenges of replacing dispatchable generation with renewable energy and battery storage. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT COMPLETE COLORADO
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Coloradans Encouraged To Weigh In On Proposed Xcel Gas Hike
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Coloradans Encouraged To Weigh In On Proposed Xcel Gas Hike

By: Scott Weiser | The Denver Gazette The Colorado Public Utilities Commission is inviting public input on a range of matters, including a remote hearing on Xcel Energy’s natural gas rate increase proposal, as part of its monthly engagement efforts. The commission on Tuesday announced opportunities for July that include a 9-1-1 Services Enterprise Board meeting, its regular monthly public comment session and the second remote public comment hearing for Xcel Energy’s gas rate case, Proceeding No. 25AL-0538G. Xcel Energy filed its proposal on Dec. 29, 2025. If approved as filed, it would increase average residential gas bills about 11.4%, or $7.59 per month, and small business gas bills about 13%, or $36.47 per month, starting in October, according to the company an...
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PowerGab Examines the Cost of Energy Mandates as Xcel Seeks Massive Rate Hike
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

PowerGab Examines the Cost of Energy Mandates as Xcel Seeks Massive Rate Hike

By: Mike Krause | Complete Colorado In a recent episode of Independence Institute’s* PowerGab energy podcast, hosts Amy Cooke and Jake Fogleman look at Xcel Energy’s request for a massive electricity price hike in Colorado (originally $355 million, now pared down to roughly $245 million). The duo zero in on why utility bills keep rising, and how decisions made years ago are now hitting ratepayers hard. Cooke argues that rate hikes are “lagging indicators,” the result of layers of policy choices, regulatory approvals, and energy mandates dating back more than a decade. She points specifically to the Colorado Energy Plan and the decision to accelerate retirement of coal-fired power plants, with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) prioritizing emissions red...
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Xcel Customers Face Largest Electric Rate Hike In Colorado History
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Xcel Customers Face Largest Electric Rate Hike In Colorado History

By Mark Jaffe | The Colorado Sun The $225 million increase would raise the average residential bill by $6.13, but the proposed rate needs PUC approval and consumer advocates oppose it. Xcel Energy, its corporate customers and unions are at odds with consumer advocates over a proposed settlement that would grant the utility the largest electric rate increase ever — $225 million. The proposed agreement between Xcel Energy and parties including the Colorado Public Utilities Commission staff, the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers, Walmart and Climax Molybdenum would raise the average household bill by $6.13 to $110.81 a month — a nearly 6% increase. Colorado Energy Consumers, which represents large industrial and commercial customers, also signed on to...
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What’s Likely to Change at Colorado’s Public Utilities Commission
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

What’s Likely to Change at Colorado’s Public Utilities Commission

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Likely changes to the Public Utilities Commission As I write this, the ultimate fate of the Public Utilities Commission sunset bill, HB26-1326 (the first link below), is unknown. I think that its becoming law is solid enough that we can wrap up what changes to this important unelected body we will see. Toward that end, I present you a couple of references which make a decent attempt at hitting endpoints on the ideological spectrum. Link 2 is a wrap up report by the Independence Institute’s energy policy writer Sarah Montalbano. Link 3 is to a contemporaneous article by the Colorado Sun’s Mark Jaffe. I’ll leave it to you to read through either or, what’s better, both. There are some things that stuck out t...
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Colorado Bill Could Lock Xcel Customers Into Decades Of Power Plant Costs
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Bill Could Lock Xcel Customers Into Decades Of Power Plant Costs

By Scott Weiser | The Denver Gazette State regulators would gain expanded power to order Xcel Energy to finance major costs for its chronically troubled Comanche 3 coal plant through bonds backed by a decades-long charge on every customer’s monthly electric bill. House Bill 26-1326, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission sunset bill that cleared its first committee on April 23, would let the PUC direct investor-owned utilities to use securitization under 2019’s Colorado Energy Impact Bond Act. The measure continues the PUC through 2037 while expanding its authority beyond voluntary utility applications. Securitization allows a utility to issue bonds backed by a decades-long charge on ratepayer bills. The charge stays on every bill, with periodic adjustments, only unt...
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